Confidence is high for Scotland after successful Southern Hemisphere tour

After a disappointing Six Nations, Scotland have cause for optimism.©SNS Group

Scotland returned to Edinburgh Airport this morning, shattered after a lengthy two-day journey back from the Southern Hemisphere, but brought with them a newly-restored confidence that was severely lacking throughout the Six Nations.

With three back-to-back wins over Australia, Fiji and Samoa, Andy Robinson’s touring squad will now have a well-earned four week break in the knowledge that they are the only home nation to record not only a victory but a clean-sweep this month. Ireland in particular suffered heavily at the hands of the All Blacks whilst Wales were pipped by Australia and England managed a draw with South Africa after a closely-fought series.

The major positives for Robinson is the emergence of players in key positions such as prop Ryan Grant, centre Matt Scott and back-rower Rob Harley who scored the match-winning try in Apia on Saturday.

This unlikely trio were on the fringes of the Glasgow and Edinburgh squads two years ago but now look to have firmly planted a claim to a starting jersey. The likes of Alan Jacobsen, Kelly Brown and Graeme Morrison who were left out of the touring squad for various reasons, may find it increasingly difficult to reclaim their places in the squad as Robinson’s focus switches to impact players who can change a game in the final stages of a close contest.

All of the party, with the exception of centres Alex Grove and Alex Dunbar, enjoyed game time on tour and the younger players especially will benefit from being part of an undefeated squad given recent disappointments.

There will be cautious optimism amongst supporters however as they have been here before recently.

After a successful series win in Argentina in June 2010 made it three Away test victories in a row for Scotland, they were then humbled 3-49 by New Zealand at Murrayfield in November that year before salvaging some pride against the then World Champion Springboks followed by a narrow win over Samoa.

It was the 2011 Six Nations though that saw the good work from the summer undone as Scotland lost their opening four matches scoring only four tries before a victory over Italy on Super Saturday saved Robinson’s blushes and possibly his job.

There is a feeling though that this time it’s a different Scotland squad that is on the verge of achieving parity amongst the home nations and finally becoming a major force again with a squad with a huge work ethic and an appetite for running with the ball in hand.

From the 2010 summer tour, only Sean Lamont, Max Evans, Ross Ford, Al Kellock and John Barclay played a part in the recent success and the emergence of the likes of the aforementioned Grant, Harley, Scott, along with Stuart Hogg, Ross Rennie and Greig Laidlaw combined with the newly-unleashed finishing ability of Tim Visser means that Scotland now possess a genuine threat and a sense of unpredictability that will worry some of the higher-ranked nations.

Looking ahead to the Autumn series against New Zealand, South Africa and Tonga, Scotland again have a realistic target of two wins from three with emphasis firmly on the latter two games.

The All Blacks have an excellent record at Murrayfield and have amassed a total of 111 points from their last three visits to the capital. The closest Scotland have come recently was in 2005 when New Zealand completed a Grand Slam with a hard-fought 10-29 victory over an impressive Scotland side who scored late-on through a Simon Webster try – the last time a Scot has achieved that feat against the current World Champions.

Former World Champions South Africa are at the beginning of a rebuilding phase but still looked impressive in spurts against England earlier this month and will pose a significant physical challenge but were beaten on their last visit to Edinburgh and so Robinson will be eyeing November 17th with keen interest knowing victory is achievable.

Tonga at Pittordrie is the final challenge awaiting Scotland in November and although the hard-hitting islanders caused a major upset in last year’s World cup, beating finalists France in the group stage, they should be overcome in wintry Aberdeen.

Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh will begin their domestic campaigns in September when the RabboDirect Pro 12 resumes and for the Warriors fans in particular it will be an exciting occasion as they finally make their move to Scotstoun stadium in Glasgow’s west end, and welcome new head coach Gregor Townsend who replaced Sean Lineen earlier this month.

After last seasons’ highs for both sides, this year’s campaign will be much tougher as opponents are now fully aware of the dangers and threats posed by the two Pro sides but both should be targeting a top four position in the Pro 12 and a Heineken Cup quarter final place as a minimum achievement.

You can follow Finlay on Twitter

Related articles

People who read this story also read